Aya: Life in Yop City
“Aya is an irresistible comedy, a couple of love stories and a tale for becoming African. It’s essential reading.” —Joann Sfar, cartoonist of The Rabbi’s CatIvory Coast, 1978. It’s a golden time, and the nation, too—an oasis of affluence and stability in West Africa—seems fueled by something...
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“Aya is an irresistible comedy, a couple of love stories and a tale for becoming African. It’s essential reading.” —Joann Sfar, cartoonist of The Rabbi’s CatIvory Coast, 1978. It’s a golden time, and the nation, too—an oasis of affluence and stability in West Africa—seems fueled by something wondrous. Aya is loosely based upon Marguerite Abouet’s youth in Yop City. It is the story of the studious and clear-sighted nineteen-year-old Aya, her easygoing friends Adjoua and Bintou, and their meddling relatives and neighbors. It’s a wryly funny, breezy account of the simple pleasures and private troubles of everyday life in Yop City. Clément Oubrerie’s warm colors and energetic, playful line connect expressively with Marguerite Abouet’s vibrant writing. This reworked edition offers readers the chance to immerse themselves in Abouet’s Yop City, bringing together the first three volumes of the series in Book One. Drawn & Quarterly will release volumes four through six of the original French series (as yet unpublished in English) in Book Two. Aya is the winner of the Best First Album award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, the Children’s Africana Book Award, and the Glyph Award; was nominated for the Quill Award, the YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels list, and the Eisner Award; and was included on “best of” lists from The Washington Post, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9781770460829 (1770460829)
ASIN: 1770460829
Publish date: September 4th 2012
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Pages no: 384
Edition language: English
Series: Aya (#1)
This book contains the final three graphic novels in the Aya series, which have apparently only appeared in English in omnibus form. This makes good sense, since each volume is short and incomplete in itself. This series is very consistent, with enjoyable characters and excellent, colorful illustrat...
I enjoyed this second volume in the series: the story is engaging, the artwork vibrant, and the characters distinct. I still think the marketing of this series overstates its supposed lightheartedness and positivity in a major way; yes, it's set in Africa without including war, abject poverty, sickn...
My rating of this one may not be reliable, as I have little experience with graphic novels. I'm calling it 3.5, because I enjoyed it well enough. This graphic novel is set in the urban Ivory Coast in the 1970s, following the (mis)adventures of three teenage girls from working-class families. Aya, ...